Coach Dinh Hong Vinh: Whoever U23 Vietnam meets in Asiad 2026 quarterfinals, they are ready

Losing to Uzbekistan 0-2, but U23 Vietnam still advanced to the Asiad 2026 quarterfinals as one of the best second-placed teams. The first thing Coach Dinh Hong Vinh did in the press conference room was not to justify the defeat, but to congratulate the opponent. Before talking about the Nagoya heat or the injuries to key players, he praised Uzbekistan — a team that won all group-stage matches and almost retained the core squad that competed at the 2026 AFC U23 Asian Cup. That is the attitude of a coach who understands reality: before a cohesive, well-identified collective, looking for excuses is meaningless. The match was decided from the 6th minute. Uzbekistan, with high tempo right from the kickoff, caught the U23 Vietnam defense off guard and scored from a moment of lost concentration. Coach Dinh Hong Vinh admitted that honestly. After conceding, his players gradually regained ball control and created chances in the first half. But football does not award points for ball possession, and under physical pressure and Uzbekistan's solidity, U23 Vietnam could not break through the opponent's defense. The real turning point of the match came from an injury. Xuan Bac, one of the two central midfielders, suffered a problem and was substituted off. Coach Dinh Hong Vinh confirmed that Xuan Bac's injury reduced the team's ability to control the rhythm of transitions — exactly what U23 Vietnam needed most when trailing. The difficulty mounted when he revealed that Nguyen Thai Quoc Cuong, the other central midfielder, was also on the injury list. Thus, preparing for the quarterfinal on September 25, both members of the starting central midfield partnership are simultaneously unavailable. This is no longer a story of a full or thin squad. U23 Vietnam's build-up system in this tournament operated on a dual fulcrum — two central midfielders who circulate the ball, regulate the tempo, and participate in duels. When both links break at the same time, the system's operation must be completely redesigned, not just patched in one position. For a team assembled from AFC U23 Asian Cup returnees and new faces, with short preparation time, losing both central midfielders before a knockout match is the biggest possible loss. Notably, Coach Dinh Hong Vinh chose not to complain. He chose to see what the team had done. The coach expressed satisfaction with the players' attitude and fighting spirit and highly appreciated the efforts of the whole team — right after a 0-2 defeat, right in circumstances where injuries, weather, and schedule all worked against them. That is not mindless optimism or sophistry, but the way a responsible coach explains to the public that this defeat has structural causes, not a matter of giving up. He also modestly suggested that the result could have been different if U23 Vietnam had equalized in the first half — a hypothetical claim, difficult to verify, but reflecting a clear awareness that his team was not overmatched in the flow of the game. Nagoya has been enduring hot weather since September 13, and the schedule allows U23 Vietnam only three days to refresh their fitness before the quarterfinal. Coach Dinh Hong Vinh said the whole team must recover well to regain the best condition, and the medical staff are working hard to get accurate assessments of the players' fitness. The heat is not an excuse, but it is a real variable in a knockout match. The most striking part of this story is not the loss to Uzbekistan. It lies in the context in which this team was created. Many key players of the U23 generation have been promoted to the senior national team, while new faces were added. Coach Dinh Hong Vinh said: "Regardless of the squad, when taking responsibility for leading the team, I am still satisfied." This is the statement of a coach who understands that he is operating a link in a larger system, where the U23 team has never been the final destination of player development. U23 Vietnam had to rotate personnel through each match, mainly due to injuries rather than tactical choices. When Xuan Bac and Thai Quoc Cuong were both absent against Uzbekistan, the squad-depth problem was exposed most clearly. In the knockout stage, when time pressure and physical condition become decisive factors, having to change the central midfield duo in a match against a physically strong top-tier Asian side is a considerable challenge. Coach Dinh Hong Vinh's team may not change its identity. They will still start cautiously, waiting for moments to launch transitions. But if the central midfield duo cannot return in time, they cannot play with the exact structure they built from the start of the tournament. And in a knockout match, playing without your own structure is almost certainly going to cost you. In Nagoya, where the heat scorches, where the schedule is dense, where consecutive injuries put a young team in a difficult position, fans can find a belief that comes not from sports science but from Vietnam's football culture: the resilience of people who know they are the underdogs but never accept giving up. From silent scarves during the pandemic season to the green stands in Nagoya, from a 6th-minute conceded goal to a quarterfinal spot — it is all part of that continuous journey. Meeting South Korea or Saudi Arabia in the quarterfinals, U23 Vietnam will be the underdog. But Coach Dinh Hong Vinh does not choose opponents. He said: "U23 Vietnam is ready for every opponent." That could be a strategic statement, a way to keep the players' spirits up before the tournament's biggest match. Or it could be a genuine belief in a collective forged through the harshest circumstances — where every match is a chance to prove their mettle, writing their own story step by step.